Oppo Has Been Directed To Deposit 23% Of Its India Sales As Compensation After Nokia’s Lawsuit

The Delhi High Court has ordered Oppo to deposit 23% of its India sales for using Nokia’s technology in its phones without the requisite consent. Oppo has to get the compensation done within 4 weeks.

The 23% figure was decided by the High Court Bench because Oppo’s sales in India account for around 23% of its global sales.

In 2018, Oppo secured a license from Nokia for using their technology over a 3-year agreement. Oppo also made advance payments for using this technology.

The agreement did not cover the use of patents relating to 5G standards. 5G devices account for 52% of Oppo’s sales in India. Considering this, Oppo would have had to pay a substantially higher amount to Nokia.

Nokia alleged that after the 2018 agreement expired, Oppo had an unprecedented increase in the sale of its devices and around 77 million of their devices had been sold in India without paying a single rupee as royalty.

Nokia’s case is that they offered to discuss the renewal of the agreement but, Oppo refused to negotiate. Nokia then filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court for infringement of its patent for 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G devices in India.

Nokia sought a temporary deposit from Oppo of an amount based on the latest counteroffer made by Oppo for a global license during the negotiations or an amount equivalent to the royalty paid under the 2018 agreement.

A single judge of the High Court dismissed the application seeking interim deposit, stating that the court did not have the power to do so without going into the merits of the case. Nokia then appealed against the order before a 2 judge bench.

In this case, Oppo’s argument is that a patent holder cannot seek an interim or even a permanent injunction as a matter of right and Nokia was seeking interim security in the initial stages of the case, without substantiating any of its claims.

The court set aside the single judge’s order and directed Oppo to deposit 23% of the proceeds of their India sales.